SALT LAKE CITY?The state Elections Office has approved papers for an initiative drive to outlaw hotter nuclear waste being transported to Utah and increase taxes on the radioactive waste currently allowed.

The Elections Office action clears the way for Utahns for Radioactive Waste Control to begin circulating petitions for the 76,180 voter signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot.

Envirocare of Utah, the company most affected by the proposal, plans to oppose the initiative drive.

The initiative would block Envirocare’s state license application to accept radioactive waste at its landfill 80 miles west of Salt Lake City.